Max’s Sandwich Shop | Sandwich Mecca in North London
Max’s Sandwich Shop is where your hunt for London’s best sandwich should start.
It’s also where some might say it should end.
Located up in Stroud Green and run by jovial owner Max Halley (who’s a bit of a mad scientist when it comes to sandwiches), Max’s Sandwich Shop is more of a restaurant with the wider goal of proving that the timeless bread/filling/bread formula can serve as a proper full-on dinner. To accomplish this, Max is, well, first of all only opening the shop after 6pm on weeknights (Wed-Fri), but he’s also cooking classic comfort food dishes and putting them between huge slices of his homemade focaccia. Needless to say, he’s succeeded in his mission and the results are tremendous.
Although Max’s is a sandwich spot – an item traditionally hand-held and often devoured standing up, sometimes on the go – it’s still a place where you can sit-down and spend more than a good few hours (not to mention that attempting to eat one of these sandwiches standing up would deserve a medal). The space is rough around the edges – but in a lovable sort of way – a mish-mash of wooden furniture, Persian rugs and playful decor. Drinks are bottled beers and ciders, quick and easy to mix cocktails (White Russians and Negronis) and you might even score a free round of picklebacks if you’re lucky, courtesy of Max himself.
But let’s not beat around the bush, the main reason you’ve come to Max’s Sandwich Shop… is for the sandwiches. The roster (usually of three to four) is led by a play on the pub staple; ham, egg and chips. It’s the most popular one by far and slaps together shoestring fries, piccalilli, slow-cooked ham hock, a fried egg and a healthy smear of salt vinegar mayo between, phew, the freshly-baked focaccia (this is Max’s preferred mode of bread as it holds the fillings better in comparison to say, sourdough and the rest).
And it’s not as though you need to stop at just one. The ‘Et Tu Brute?’, aka ‘Murdering the Caesar’, deserves shine too: a gourmet caesar salad-turned-sandwich bulging with poached chicken thighs, pickled grape & tarragon salsa and garlic croutons. Then you’ve a goat tikka masala number with Bombay mix and lime pickle & gravy mayo. Max even whips up a sandwich with spring rolls in it. Basically, there’s a lot to take in (literally), and that’s before even getting to the sides. For the record, those are jalapeño mac ‘n’ cheese balls and fried chicken wings with harissa yoghurt.
They’re a must order too, if you want to max out your enjoyment…
NOTE: Max’s Sandwich Shop is open from 6-11pm Wed-Fri,11.30am-3.30pm and 5-11pm on Sat, and 11am-6pm on Sun. You can find out more here
Max’s Sandwich Shop | 19 Crouch Hill, Finsbury Park, London N4 4AU
For more great examples of how to use bread… see London’s best bakeries